Chapter 777

At the same time that the Government of the United Kingdom received the news, the Government of Vienna also received an urgent telegram from Africa — the Anglo-Austrian conflict had broken out in South Africa.

According to the telegram, the cause of the incident was that a cow belonging to the South African Lord of Shinra, Viscount Aguirre, was grazing in the border area and was shot dead by the British farmer, Jorge.

The negotiation for compensation failed, and the furious Viscount Aguirre led his men to loot the other party's farm, killing a few unlucky fellows along the way.

There was nothing strange about this. In a colony where the strong preyed on the weak, similar scenes were common.

These days, the colonists were all desperadoes, and it was basic for them to fight at the slightest disagreement. The feudal nobles of Shinra were also hot-tempered. They were all killed on the battlefield, and whoever was a coward was a coward.

Especially when there was a conflict of interest between the two sides, it was even more intolerable. Since they couldn't come to an agreement, they would settle it by force according to the rules of the colony.

Originally, this was not a big deal. Killing a few people in a colonial conflict had long been a common occurrence in the colonies.

However, Viscount Aguirre was unlucky. During his retreat, he encountered the British army that had rushed over after hearing the news, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides.

With his rich combat experience, Aguirre successfully fought his way out, but his identity was still exposed.

Everyone had always done this kind of thing in secret. As long as they didn't get evidence, no one would open the lid.

It was different now. The British confirmed Viscount Aguirre's identity, and this couldn't be tolerated.

Naturally, it was impossible to hand him over. Shinra was the overlord of Africa, so it naturally wouldn't care about the British protest.

Perhaps they had eaten explosives or something else, but after the communication failed, the British army chose a sunny day to attack Viscount Aguirre's territory.

According to the British, they were catching the murderer. Obviously, the Divine Clapnet Sect naturally wouldn't buy it.

Viscount Aguirre wasn't alone. After his territory was attacked by the British army, the surrounding nobles immediately mobilized to send reinforcements.

After defeating the invading British army, Viscount Aguirre, who felt humiliated, discussed with the noble lords who came to help, and decided to demand an explanation from the British.

Then, everyone began to call their friends. Half a month later, they gathered a coalition army of more than 10,000 people and charged towards the Cape of Good Hope.

At this point, the incident had far exceeded the boundary of "armed conflict". It was obviously more appropriate to describe it as a war.

The private army of the nobles of Shinra and the colonial government of the United Kingdom started fighting. Everyone knew that things were getting out of hand. Neither side could cover it up, so they could only let the domestic government deal with it.

They only reported it when they could no longer cover it up. Naturally, it was not that the South African Governor's Office was so slow to react, nor was it deliberately covering it up. It was mainly caused by the characteristics of the times.

With the advent of the colonial era, colonial conflicts became a common occurrence. Take the Holy Roman Empire for example. On average, there were more than three digits of disputes with their neighbors every year.

From a small quarrel to a big fight on the battlefield.

In this context, if the central government had to intervene every time there was a conflict, the Vienna government would probably be busy dealing with the aftermath of the conflict.

In order to improve administrative efficiency, Franz could only redefine colonial conflicts according to the actual situation.

Those that didn't fight were ignored and left to the local government to deal with. There was no need to report it.

If there was an armed conflict, but the number of participants was less than 1,000 and the number of casualties was less than 100, it was directly reported to the authorities.

It had to be a large-scale conflict that required the Government of Vienna to personally deal with it. The central government would only intervene if the local government really couldn't handle it.

It was because of these restrictions that the conflict was delayed until now to be reported.

…

Prime Minister Chandler: "The above is the general story. Analyzing the incident as a whole, Viscount Aguirre's extreme behavior was the main reason for the outbreak of this conflict.

However, there was also a reason for this. Viscount Aguirre was only trying to protect the sanctity of private property. Although his methods were a bit extreme, it was understandable to deal with bandits.

If the British army hadn't invaded without authorization and intensified the conflict, there wouldn't have been a large-scale military conflict that broke out later.

The government believes that the British need to bear the main responsibility for this conflict. The counterattack of the nobles' coalition was only to protect the sovereignty and security of the country. "

It could be seen that Chandler was avoiding the main point and dwelling on the trivial, pushing the matter aside. However, politics had always only looked at the pros and cons, regardless of the black and white.

Not to mention that the nobles' coalition had just sent troops to retaliate, even if they had already taken the Cape of Good Hope, the Government of Vienna would still blame the British.

The responsibility for the war was all the British, so there was naturally no need to pursue it internally in Shinra. Besides, it wasn't accurate to define it as a war now.

From beginning to end, the Government of Vienna didn't participate. It was just an ordinary civil conflict. How could it be considered a war?

Although the scale of the conflict was a bit larger, a conflict was still a conflict. It was a different concept from war.

If you flipped through the history books of the Holy Roman Empire, you would know that in the past few hundred years, there had been many PKs between the feudal vassals and foreign countries, but there were very few that involved the central government.

It wasn't just the Holy Roman Empire. European countries had similar histories. The private confrontation of the nobles wasn't equivalent to a war between countries. It could only be regarded as a "friendly match" among the people.

There were only ten thousand people participating in the conflict now. Believe it or not, the number of participants could increase tenfold in a few months?

It could be seen that Prime Minister Chandler had made up his mind. As long as I didn't recognize this as a war, it would be a civil armed conflict.

As for the Government of the United Kingdom, if they had objections, they could retaliate on their own. If they were really angry, they could directly declare war. The Government of Vienna would accept all of it.

In a sense, this was also the British's own fault. It was tempting to keep a colony of tens of thousands of square kilometers in South Africa. If only a port city was left, the nobles definitely wouldn't be so enthusiastic.

After all, according to the national conditions of the Holy Roman Empire, the important ports and big cities were taken over by the central government, and other areas were under the scope of enfeoffment.

Although it couldn't be said that whoever conquered the land owned it, it was still necessary to take the fattest piece of the cake.

War was a gold-swallowing beast. If there wasn't enough incentive, it wouldn't be so efficient even if the surrounding people were all relatives.

He was already coveted by others, and now that there was a ready-made excuse to come knocking on his door, how could he not make a move?

The cause of the incident?

The nobles' coalition: "Sorry, we only saw the British army invading. The troops were sent to protect the country, and now they are only chasing the invading enemy.

As long as the British South African government hand over all the participants, hold the relevant responsible persons accountable, and compensate for the losses.

As for what happened before, unfortunately, that was only the colonial government's side of the story. With the moral integrity of your government, we have every reason to not believe it. "

In short, if they didn't know, all the responsibility had nothing to do with them. Not only was there no responsibility, but they were also heroes who attacked the invaders and protected the country.

At least from the standpoint of the Government of Vienna, it must be defined this way. No matter how many reasons the British had, the British army entering the country without permission was an original sin.

At this point, it was obviously impossible for him to stop. The frontline was already fighting, and it was too late to stop now.

Moreover, with the current international situation, the whole world knew that there would be a war between Shinra and Britannia in the near future.

In fact, there was no essential difference whether they started a few months earlier or a few months later.

At this point, there was no practical meaning in talking about the cause and effect, except for a verbal battle. In any case, they were just throwing the blame to each other, and in the end, the loser would bear all the responsibility.

As soon as the voice fell, Minister of War Vislav said indignantly, "Your Majesty, the British army dared to enter the country without permission. It is clear that they are not putting the Empire in their eyes. We must give them a head-on blow."

Although the main character of the war against Britain was no longer the Army, the main force of the colony was still the Army!

Although the Navy and Air Force have been developing well in recent years, in the Great Colonization Movement, they are just little brothers.

Looking at the previous wars in the past few decades, it was clear that all the wars were fought by the Army. Under this background, the nobles under the system of military merit naturally came from the Army.

Even if they were reduced to a supporting role this time, the main force was still the Army when fighting for territory.

No one could predict the outcome of a war. If the naval battle was lost, it was still the Army that could turn the tide.

Although it was not said, it could be seen from the actual actions that the Army was not optimistic that the Shinra Navy could win.

In order to deal with the negative impact of the Navy's defeat, the Ministry of War even developed a "Turning the Sky Plan."

The content was very simple and crude. The main force would send troops from the Middle East to kill all the way to India through Persia, and the secondary force would set off from Malaysia to attack India through the Indo-China Peninsula.

In summary, it was: Take India, and beat Britannia to the ground.

As for the territory war on the African continent, it could only be regarded as a side dish, far from the main course.

The plan was formulated, and the prerequisite for implementation was: Shinra and Britannia going to war.

Regardless of whether the Government of Vienna was focusing on the development of the Navy, as long as the war broke out, the goal was only to win.

As long as the Army could take India, it would be the first hero of the war. The Navy and air force could only obediently follow behind.

Of course, the Government of Vienna was clear about the Army's plan. Although it was not full support, no one could refuse to have another option. The resources invested were still not small.

The main reason was that people did not have enough confidence in the Navy, but they had too much confidence in the Army.

Although the Army's plan was facing a huge dilemma, everyone believed that as long as they were willing to invest, they would be able to win.

The Air Force Minister Conrad echoed, "Marshal is right. We must give the enemy a head-on blow. The era of the British is over. Now it's our turn to perform. "

The Army wanted war, and the Air Force wanted war even more. As the youngest military, the Shinra Air Force faced the same dilemma as the Navy – a lack of achievements.

The military was a place that respected the strong. To prove one's strength, the only way was to perform on the battlefield.

In contrast, the Air Force was more confident. Although it was born late and did not participate in many wars, the enemies they faced were rookies.

At the very least, the Shenluo Air Force had experience in bombing and attacking airships. The British Air Force on the other side were the true newbies.

Moreover, Shinra's aviation industry started earlier, and its industrial strength was much stronger than the British. In terms of military performance, the British Air Force was a notch higher.

With so many advantages, as long as they did not seek death, the Air Force had no reason to lose.

In contrast, the Navy was much more miserable. Although it received the focus of the government's resources, it was still suppressed by the Royal Navy.

The Army and Air Force were the best in the world, and they had the strength to look down on all the other warships. Only the Navy could only be ranked second.

Before the new battleships entered service, the Navy did not have the strength to challenge the Royal Navy.

Unfortunately, time waited for no man. The situation had reached this point, and it was impossible to wait for the Navy to be ready before starting the war. At least the British were not willing to wait.

Seeing his colleagues clamoring for war, the Navy Minister Castagni could only bite the bullet and say, "The Navy is ready. Once war breaks out, we will use the tactic of breaking diplomatic relations to disrupt the enemy's maritime trade routes.

After the new battleships enter service, we will go to sea and fight the British, breaking the Royal Navy's maritime supremacy. "

There was no other way, he was discouraged at the last moment. Originally, Castagni wanted to shout a few loud slogans, but seeing the scrutinizing eyes of the people, he chose to tell the truth.

Fortunately, Castagni stopped in time. If he clamored for a decisive battle with the Royal Navy, it was estimated that everyone's hearts would be completely cold.

It was important to know one's own limits, and the military was no exception. Not being able to defeat the enemy was not scary, the most frightening thing was not knowing one's own limits.

Especially for the senior government officials, one decision could affect the fate of the country for decades to come. An accurate understanding of oneself was the most important thing.

…

Glancing at the crowd, Franz said calmly, "The Navy and Air Force will immediately launch a level one strategic mobilization, the Army will launch a level two tactical mobilization, and all government departments will coordinate and cooperate.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will issue a protest to the Government of the United Kingdom, condemning the shameless act of the British troops illegally entering the country and attacking civilians, and ordering the Government of the United Kingdom to hand over the murderers. The Propaganda Department will immediately launch a public opinion offensive, throwing all the blame on the British.

The foreign departments will start the evacuation work, except for the intelligence department, all other agencies in Britannia and its allies will try to evacuate within two months.

The evacuation operation will be carried out simultaneously with the British, and when necessary, they can be packed to neutral countries.

The customs, citing the tense international situation, will strengthen the review of the export of strategic goods, and try to ensure that the goods do not flow to the British as much as possible.

The domestic economy will shift to wartime, and the focus of resources will be on warships and aircraft manufacturing. The General Staff Department will determine the combat plan as soon as possible.

Order the colonial governments to start a comprehensive wartime system, and can give up part of the territory if necessary.

… "